Coaster Safety Procedures
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As the coasters get bigger so do the queue lines
Many people check the oil in their car once a week or so. If they drive a lot or are going on a long trip, they might check it more often. This is to protect their investment.
During the summer, coasters run 12 plus hours a day. Walking the track is the same as checking the oil before a long drive to protect the investment.
What is legally required is determined by state and local law. This means that it varies from nothing to quite a lot depending on where the park is.
ASTM F853 and F893 are national standards that provide guidelines for inspection and maintenance of rides, but are not law unless incorporated in state or local law.
Actual laws vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. In some areas there may be no controlling legal authority at all (for instance, a fixed park in the State of Florida which employs more than 1,000 employees...); in some areas (Clark County, NV comes to mind) there are rigid, very specific requirements.
But if you read the various state and local laws, and you read the ASTM standards, they all generally boil down to one simple rule for all amusement rides:
Thou shalt follow the Manufacturer's Instructions and Guidelines for the proper Inspection, Operation and Maintenance of thy ride.
Of course, some parks go beyond what the manufacturer requires, some add their own elements to the inspection (I'll bet CCI's inspection checklist for the Legend doesn't say anything about checking the bell...but Holiday World's checklist certainly does!) and invariably the owner's experiences with the ride will come into play.
For the most part it isn't so much a legal issue as an issue of doing what needs to be done to keep the ride safe. Parks don't do it because of the legal requirement, parks do it because it is necessary to prevent Bad Things™ from happening.
--Dave Althoff, Jr.
It seems to vary greatly, even with in the same state.
I know of one local park where you can see them walking the tracks in the mornings and being very picky and proper about things.
I know of another local park that, by the looks of things, has a very simple requirement to "safety check" their one coaster. "1) Push against a support beam with all your might... does the coaster stay standing? If the first test is passed, then 2) send a train around. Does the Train return with all of its cars (The first car must still be on the tracks. The remaining cars must return attached to the first car... however they do not have to still be on the track... as long as they are dragged back to the station in some manner by the first car)? If the answer to these two questions is "Yes", you can run the coaster."
[Note: This last paragraph was, of course, satire. Simply put, Park #2 doesn't seem to be as strict in its safety procedures as does park #1]
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Kind of hard to take a post as objective if a park or coaster name is part of the "user name"
SLFAKE: You live in Pennsylvania don't you? I can guess which parks.
Dave: Actually, I cheated and looked up the numbers. I've been on a couple of standards committees (not for amusement rides), but I can't even quote those standards chapter and verse like a preacher quoting the bible. As you said, a lot of it comes down to doing the right thing. Of course it's hard to follow the manufacturer's guidelines for Leap The Dips or Wild One.
*** This post was edited by Jim Fisher on 10/8/2002. ***
Jim Fisher: I see you have both those PA parks (and the old rickety coaster I had in mind in the second instance) in your track record. If you know PA parks... then a few could fit into the first category... but only really 1 sticks out as being in the 2nd.
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Kind of hard to take a post as objective if a park or coaster name is part of the "user name"
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